Triumph coursed through Dean's veins. 'Finally! I found her!' The dirty blonde vampire snarled at him, but he didn't even notice. "Where is he?" She struggled, but the Kurd knife against her esophagus kept her in check. "I... I saw it again, two days ago. It was running from an okami." Dean blew out his breath. "You could be lying..." The vamp's eyes grew wide, pleading. "No nono. I saw it. It has hospital clothing, under a dirty trenchcoat, and dark hair." Inwardly, Dean wanted to whoop with joy. Cas was still alive, still fighting! Outwardly, he just nodded, a slight smile quirking his mouth. "Thanks." he told the vampire, before pushing his blade home. He retreated to the trees early that night. He felt he had earned that break. His head and heart were light as he settled in a Douglas pine. "I pray to Castiƫl to show his feathery ass." He hoped this approach would trigger Cas, but when he opened his eyes tentively, he was still alone. His high hope began to crumble. "Come on, Cas. I'm not mad at you, never really was. You thought you did the right thing. I forgive you, and I'm damn sure Sam does too. Please... Cas... I need you, buddy... I saw a vampire today. She said she saw you only two days ago. That means you are fighting. Just don't lose, buddy... Please. Don't be dead..." Fighting the sting in his eyes, Dean sighed and thumped his head against the bark of the trunk.

A flash of white streaked through the undergrowth, and Dean's grin widened. 'Stupid fang, wearing white in this world of greys. He sticks out like a sore thumb.' Setting an even jog, Dean ran after it. The vampire was running, desperately, crashing through the forrest. Dean was chasing, cool, calculated, and calm. For a second, Dean thought he saw a flash of tan between the trees, and he got distracted. 'Nothing. Of course not. It must have been wishful thinking.' When he turned back to his quarry, it was gone. He halted, his senses on high alert. To his left, a twig snapped and his head shot that way, looking, listening. Then he was back on the trail and he quietly made his way onward. When he saw the white blouse shimmer between the trees across the next clearing, he smirked to himself. 'Gotcha, you leech.' The vampire slowed as it walked into the clearing, but as soon as Dean stepped out from under the trees, it raised its head and sniffed the air. Its back was turned on Dean, but he could see the tension leave its shoulders, an air of resignation following in its wake. When it attacked, Dean was ready. He blocked the strike and the vampire dropped its blade. Dean pushed it against a tree, where it struggled against the arm with the knife he had pressed on its collarbone. It dropped its fangs and snapped fruitlessly at Dean.

"Take a breath, calm down." Dean said, soothingly. The vampire struggled with itself, breathing deeply and finally retracting its extra dentures. Cutting to the chase, Dean asked his usual question. "Where's the angel?" The vampire huffed a short laugh, a snarky smile on its lips. "You're him..." it rasped. Dean was taken aback. Usually that was said in fear, not gloating like this. "...the human." the vampire sneered. Not in the mood for pleasantries, Dean pressed down harder, his knife across the vampire's neck. "Where's the angel?" he repeated, this time more threatening. "I don't know." the monster rasped, a hint of glee in its voice. Dean weighed his options. 'Torture the bloodsucker, and probably get nothing but a waste of energy, or kill it here and now.' This was a relatively fit vamp. The muscles along its neck stood out as it was held to the tree. His knife would have trouble severing its neck. Dean remembered the blade it had dropped, and made up his mind. "Hm." he merely huffed, with the corner of his mouth quirking in a mockery of a smile, and pinned the vamp to the tree by sticking his knife in its arm. It roared and grunted with pain. Satisfied, Dean walked over to the blade lying on the forest floor, and picked it up. 'Nice... good balance. Looks sharp too. Bet this gets a sweet momentum, once swung.' He lifted it higher and in one fell blow, beheaded its owner. Dean coldly watched the body fall this way, and the head that, before pulling his new blade free from the trunk. It took some force. 'Sweet. Like a good machette...'